Most
mainstream audience members first took notice of Ryan Gosling when he starred
in the relentlessly popular adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ romantic melodrama,
The Notebook, but he quickly began taking roles that allowed him to escape the
pitfalls of most actors who are able to create a career from being on the cover
of teen magazines. Those who have followed him from the beginning of his
illustrious career can see how rarely the actor chooses roles with such broad
appeal, but when he does they manage to catapult his career into all new
opportunities.

A Place Beyond the Pines (2013)

2013
looks to be another stellar year for Gosling, including two reunions with
directors that he previously produced masterpieces with. A Place Beyond the
Pines is now playing in limited theaters (list of theaters: http://bit.ly/172Our4 ), and the trailer for Only God Forgives
was just recently released online. A
Place Beyond the Pines is directed by Derek
Cianfrance (Blue Valentine) and features a performance by Gosling that is so
electrifying that it inspired James Franco to write a blog praising the actor (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-franco/ryan-gosling-place-beyond-the-pines_b_3014853.html).
Only God Forgives is a new collaboration with Danish filmmaker Nicholas Winding
Refn (Drive). The red band trailer is below.

For
the sake of this list I only considered films from 2012 and earlier, and it
should be noted that these are my desert island picks. These are the movies I
would (and in some case do) watch countless times. Occasionally emotional
attachment and personal preference outweighs quality when making decisions in a
desert island list.

5. The Notebook (2004)

[The
following are excerpts taken from a previous review of film]

The
Notebook is one of those films destined to become a classic in the future,
remembered by each generation as it is passed along. There is also a great
chance that this will happen with Titanic, so I don’t mean to insinuate any
statement of worth by claiming this, but I am certain it is true nonetheless.
The Notebook was a phenomenon that reached a remarkably wide number of
audiences, even if many of the men were there because of their date. I worked
at a movie theater when The Notebook was released and I watched the crowds pour
in, cleaning up the many wet tissues after the show was over and the sniffing
customers had vacated the theater. Even I watched the film twice amongst the
mass of couples. Years later I worked at a video store, and once again saw the
popularity of the DVD, even years after its initial release. There is a
timeless quality about the film and the love story that makes The Notebook
accessible to all ages, and doesn’t look likely to grow old.

There is more to
The Notebook than just the

classic love story to make it such a legendary
romance film, although that certainly would seem to be enough. The romance
which developed between the two leading stars, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams,
certainly helps to reinforce its place in history. Both actors were not nearly
as appreciated as their talents seemed to call for before this film, and each
elevated the simple love story to something much more. Gosling is among one of
the most talented actors in Hollywood,
but like Edward Norton and Russell Crowe before him, sometimes he is so good
that he goes unnoticed. Heath Ledger was this type of actor as well, and it is
impossible to find a moment that he seems to be acting. Gosling’s performance
in this film is a perfect example of how he manages to take even the simplest
role and add a bit more to it than is necessary. His dedication is so effective
that he often comes off more as a chameleon rather than an actor, who we expect
to be able to see ‘acting’.

4. Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

Gosling
dons a moustache, a bad haircut and bulky winter clothing for one of the
sweetest romantic comedies that he has made. The premise seems outlandish,
likely to resort to gags within the first minutes. Gosling stars as a man who
is so lonely and cut off from the world that he forces himself into something
of a delusional state. Buying a sex doll off of the internet, Lars (Gosling)
introduces her to his family as his new girlfriend. Treating her with absolute
respect and decency, many are confused about this change in Lars’ behavior, but
the arrival of the inanimate partner allows him to face issues which have long
been keeping Lars from living his life fully.

This
is one of those films that I have yet to tire of, though I have watched it
enough times to know most scenes word for word. Emily Mortimer and Paul
Schneider are wonderfully cast as Lars’ sympathetic and supportive family
members, with Schneider easily at his best since David Gordon Green’s All the
Real Girls. Gosling plays away from the heartthrob personality, even though
this was his first return to the genre since The Notebook. His resistance
towards being a typical romantic lead reminds me of similar paths Johnny Depp
took after escaping “21 Jump
Street” in favor of John Waters and Tim Burton
oddities.

3. Blue Valentine (2010)

[The
following are excerpts taken from a previous review of film]

Blue Valentine follows about 24
hours in the life of couple Dean and Cindy (Gosling and Williams), interspersed
with footage from their past which provides context for the relationship. Their
day begins with the bad news that the family dog has vanished, which is first
discovered by their adorable little girl. Although Dean and Cindy don’t seem to
be getting along very well any longer, we see through flashbacks that their
relationship began very passionately. This makes the inevitability of the
future so much bleaker.

Williams
was honored with a Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards, but Gosling
did not get nearly enough attention for this spectacular performance. This is a
crowning achievement in a career already full of some of this generation’s most
honest performances. Painful as this film may be, few films have captured the
rise and fall of love quite so vividly. Gosling may not have received a
nomination, but it doesn’t much matter. He will have many more in his future.

2. Half Nelson (2006)

[The
following are excerpts taken from a previous review of film]

Every so often
there is a movie that affects me so profoundly on so many levels that I have
difficulty pinpointing specifics coherently and that makes it difficult to find
the right words to praise the film properly. Half Nelson is one of these films,
in my opinion one of the smartest and effective human stories put on film in
years, specifically thanks to the wonderful performances by all and Ryan
Fleck’s thoughtful and authentic directing.

Gosling stars as
Dan Dunne, a young impassioned history teacher with the ability to make the
difficult subject seem relevant and real, while also keeping a serious drug
habit after hours. Dunne sees an ex-girlfriend and finds out that she is
engaged and this continues his drug abuse until he begins to spiral out of
control, no longer able to function properly. Half Nelson occurs in a real
world where even the best teachers have students who don’t listen. It isn’t
Dead Poet’s Society and it seems like only a few actually appreciate what a
great teacher he is. One that does notice, and becomes even more interested
after discovering her teacher’s secret addiction, is Drey (Shareeka Epps). Drey
is also on the failing basketball team that Dunne coaches and she forms a bond
with him when he starts giving her rides home after practice. As Dunne grows
more concerned he learns of Drey’s connection to a local drug dealer (Anthony
Mackie), and tries to keep her from becoming involved with him.

1. Drive (2011)

[The
following are excerpts taken from a previous review of film]

On
average, I watch about 600 movies a year. Sometimes it’s more and sometimes it
is less, but I will only watch a small percentage of them more than once. The
truth is, very few of the 600 are altogether memorable. Some are praiseworthy
but I feel no emotional connection to them, while others are indulgent but less
than adequate upon later examination. Then there are the perfect films. The
ones which not only have the ability to keep you thinking for days, but also
grab you in a way which almost feels personal. In 2011, for me, this film was Drive. A culmination of a director I
have long respected, an actor I very much admire, and a promising premise taken
from a book by James Sallis resulted in the best film of the year. 1 in 600.

The storyline is
rather simple, and the filmmaking simplifies it even further. We are not given
lengthy scenes of dialogue to fill us in on back-story, and occasionally we
even leave the scene before the dialogue has even begun. In one amazing
sequence the driver is walking through a grocery store when he notices his
neighbor, Irene (Mulligan). At this point it is clear from his facial
expression when he sees her that he wants nothing to do with her. Perhaps he
wants no attachments or maybe he has another reason, but instead of approaching
the woman and her son, he retreats down another aisle. As fate would have it,
he walks out of the store just as Irene discovers that her car won’t start. As
well as being a stunt driver and a getaway driver, our antihero protagonist
also works with a mechanic (Bryan Cranston), and again we see the look on his
face, hesitating before approaching to help. The film then cuts to a shot of
them in their apartment elevator. We don’t need the unnecessary dialogue. We
know everything we need to know from the images, and with the help of a
pop-electronic soundtrack.

Gosling’s
performance comes as no surprise, however, as he has never been short of
excellent. What truly surprised me was to see how much director Nicholas Wining
Refn has come into his own. He was born and bred amidst the Dogma ’95 movement
of Danish cinema, but while he debut feature was certainly shot in natural
surroundings with mostly non-actors with natural light, Refn’s Pusher was also a stylistic and graphic
gangster film resembling the type of films Quentin Tarantino was making in the
1990s. Followed by two sequels which were each better than the last, Refn
showed promise from the very beginning. His films have otherwise always proven
to be worth watching, though some are more impressive than others. Each
attempts to intellectually approach the art of filmmaking while telling
otherwise straightforward stories. He is one of many filmmakers, including
Tarantino, who have elevated the genre film into an incredible art form. Drive
is Refn’s masterpiece.

Dragon is a
blending of genres which plays out something like Rashamon meets Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon. There is a mystery and a lot of spectacular action within
a world of pristine visual fantasy. There is enough eye candy and hard-hitting
action to please the low brow, with a clever screenplay and flawless
choreography to cater to those who want more than just a quota of violence.

Donnie Yen once again elevates his
status as the most enigmatic working Chinese action star playing Liu Jin-xi.
The village craftsman lives a quiet life until the arrival of two wanted
gangsters in the local general store. Jin-xi happens to be shopping when they
arrive, and is pulled into a fight with them, saving the shopkeeper from
certain death.

The event first appears to be an act
of bravery which results in a lucky victory, but a visiting detective named Xu
Bai-jiu (Takeshi Kaneshiro) sees more to the altercation than that. The
detective becomes convinced that Jin-xi is hiding something about his past and
possesses more powers than he admits. In his investigation, the truth about
Jin-xi’s identity comes out, and it brings a dangerous clan of criminals to the
village in the process.

The Blu-ray release includes a making-of
featurette, as well as additional features with Donnie Yen interviews and a
music video. The highlight of the disc, however, is the visual impact of the
high definition. This is easily one of the most beautifully shot action films
of the last few years, and it is paired with an impressively impactful
soundtrack, all of which is enhanced by the high definition presentation.

Repo Man is an
enigma of a film, its very creation as inexplicable as many aspects of the film
itself.It is a film which never seems
to choose a genre, therefore defying any perceptible trajectory in plot, and
also seems to embody the spirit of punk rock music like few other films ever
were capable of. The fact that the soundtrack was far more successful than the
film upon original release speaks volumes, and is part of what makes this film
the quintessential video-age cult classic.

UCLA film
student graduate Alex Cox plummeted out of the gate with this debut feature,
one which was originally meant to be an independent until Universal swooped in
and backed the picture. Even more remarkable was the limited interference the
studio had on the creative vision of the odd counter culture film about Los Angeles, Reaganomics,
Repo-men and aliens.

Emilio Estevez
is at his very best as a middle-class punk with little regard for anything.
This makes him a perfect candidate for the job of a repossession man, which he
is first tricked into doing by seasoned pro Bud (Harry Dead Stanton). Otto
(Estevez) goes through the familiar stages of many other comedic protagonists;
he loses his job (in actuality, he quits his job), he loses his girlfriend, and
he is in danger of being thrown out on his ass. The difference between Otto and
most other protagonists in his shoes is this doesn’t seem to affect him at all.
His attitude is superfluous to most fortune or misfortune alike.

Though there
is a semi-constant storyline involving a car which contains mysterious items in
the trunk which were smuggled out of the deserts of Nevada, Repo Man is mostly a free-flowing
film about Otto’s misadventures in repossessions. He learns different methods
from different repo men. While one dresses in suits to look like a cop, another
does his best to look like a hardened criminal. The desired outcome is always
the same; to be left alone until the car has been repossessed.

Cox went on to
make Sid & Nancy, yet another contribution to punk rock film history, yet
Repo Man still stands as his crowning achievement in my mind. It borrows from
many films. Moments remind me of early Robert Altman comedies in style and
dialogue. The trunk of the car resembles the unseen treasure of Touch of Evil.
There are many other familiar moments, and yet Repo Man still stands as a
distinctly original film.

The
director-approved Blu-ray release has a newly restored 2K digital transfer of
the film, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack. The disc also includes an
optional commentary track with Cox, executive producer Michael Nesmith, casting
director Victoria Thomas, and actors Sy Richardson, Zander Schloss, and Del
Zamora. The bonus features also include deleted scenes and trailers, a
roundtable discussion of the film, a conversation between Stanton and McCarthy and new interviews with
musicians Iggy Pop and Keith Morris, as well as actors Dick Rude, Olivia
Barash, and Miguel Sandoval. There is also the TV-edit version of the film,
which altered the language. All of this comes is a fantastic package with a
65-page book insert that has essays and an illustrated production history with
comics and original art that inspired the film.

There
are very few surprises within the biopic of Lincoln. When the announcement of Spielberg’s
decision to make an Abraham Lincoln biopic was made, I basically was able to
imagine what that would be like. The end result is not far from what I imagined,
with the same visual style that filmmaker Steven Spielberg has clung to for the
last decade or so. Just as predictable is the ease with which Daniel Day Lewis
is able to mesmerize us with another flawless performance. There are also a
number of praiseworthy supporting cast members, including a joyful
scene-stealer in James Spader.

With all there is
to praise, however, I felt myself feeling rather emotionally detached from the
entire endeavor, mostly due to the areas of political maneuvering that the film
tends to focus on. We know little about the man, aside from his tendency to tell
long-winded stories, but we see a great deal in his ability to use the
democratic system to create change. There is a lesson in this which is
timeless, especially as correlations between the abolishment of slavery and
current fights for civil equality are sure to be made.

Lincoln does not waste time with the usual
trappings of biopics, including no back-story or scenes of a childhood event
which would shape later decisions. Instead, the film takes places entirely
during the struggle to pass the 13th Amendment during his final four
months in office. The Civil War has already been going on for over four years
at the beginning of the film, but it is still a struggle to convince even the
most liberal politicians to pass a law that will abolish slavery in the United States.
Much of the film focuses on the political maneuvering that Lincoln was forced to use in order to make
the law seem tied to the end of the war, rather than having anything to do with
racial equality.

Moments in the
film are more entertaining than others, like expertly sprinkled confection to
hide the more nutritional aspects of the film’s screenplay. Much of this is due
to the performances in the film. All actors seem appropriately compelling
without too much melodrama being played, but it is impossible to review Lincoln without singing
the praises of Daniel Day Lewis. I will be brief, because I don’t think there
is much left to be said. He is one of the most impressively dedicated actors
working today, and the natural way he seems to embody the 16th
President is so effortless that it would have been easy to overlook the
performance. This is a well deserved third win for the actor.

The 4-Disc Combo
pack includes a DVD and digital copy of the film, as well as the Blu-ray
version. The fourth disc is a Blu-ray with all of the many additional features.
On the first Blu-ray disc and the DVD, there is a making-of featurette. The
Blu-ray also has a featurette about the choice to shoot in Richmond, Virginia.
The second Blu-ray disc has four additional making-of featurettes, each dealing
specific aspects of this particular production. They cover the casting, the
technical aspects of the era, sound design and more.

James Gandolfini has carried his career as an actor on his
ability to appear tough. Sometimes this is played for comedic effect when his
behavior is in contradiction with his demeanor, as was the case in Andrew
Dominik’s Killing Them Softly. Regardless, he always seems to carry himself as
though he were willing to stand up to anyone. It is this expectation of the
actor which makes his role in Down the Shore so surprising. Though he still has
a bit of the usual Jersey attitude, Bailey
(Gandolfini) is a man who is meeker and more broken down than any the actor has
played before.

Bailey runs a pathetically underperforming amusement park for
small children on the Jersey shore. While in
the middle of the dead winter season, Bailey is struck with the news of his
sister’s death upon the arrival of her mysterious French husband (Edoardo
Costa). The filmmaker deliberately prevents us from seeing enough about this
stranger to know whether he is trustworthy or not, but Bailey is immediately
suspicious. Despite the suspicion, the two go into business together running
the kiddie amusement park, and soon the new brother-in-law becomes entangled in
Bailey’s melodrama.

This is a film about the characters and why they act the way
they do, though some are made out to be villains without needing much of an
explanation. Bailey has a past which makes him hold back from what he knows is
right, including the unrequited love he has for an old childhood girlfriend and
neighbor (Famke Janssen). In true independent film tradition, little happens
besides conversations of a revelatory nature, but the performances are good and
the direction is solid. Little about this film stands out from the mass of
other small-town/dead town indi-dramas, but it is well made nonetheless.